


ten years from now

by woozi



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: M/M, Parallel Universes, human hide, this is COMPLETELY inspired by Orange lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-07-26 19:51:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7587640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woozi/pseuds/woozi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hide finds a strange letter that's written for him, from the him ten years into the future. </p><p>The letter addresses a problem Hide will face that apparently still bothers him ten years later, a problem involving his best friend, Kaneki Ken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so i completely trashed the washuu hide theory thats probably real and replaced it with this parallel universe thing for my own personal needs. if you missed it in the tags this is completely inspired by orange! just finished it and it's very easily the best manga i have ever read although it ruined my life. the idea is the same but other than that i don't plan on making anything else similar.

Hide’s spitting out all the curses he knows as he hops over to his bike, still trying to pull his other shoe on. He stumbles into his bike and swears again when it crashes loudly onto the concrete, however, a flit of white in his peripheral vision takes his attention.

 

The blond reaches down and picks it up, brows furrowing when he realizes it’s an envelope. He guesses it fell out of the basket on his bike when he knocked it over, but wonders why it wasn’t in, like, his _mailbox._

 

“Maybe the mailman felt lazy.” Hide thinks aloud, eyes scanning over the front of it to make sure it was actually for him. The address and name are correct, but it has _his_ name in the _from:_ line.

 

That’s certainly interesting.

 

“What the…” He rips it open, leaving his bike where it fell over in the street.

 

_Hey, eighteen year old me! It’s me, twenty-eight year old you._

_This is probably weird – I mean - if this even reached you. I hope it did, or this whole letter thing would be a complete waste of time!_

Hide squints, doesn’t know if he should be mad or something. This was a prank right? He whirls around - ready to face a phone behind him, capturing the moment - but there’s nothing. He does a full spin, slowly, making sure there was no one hiding somewhere recording him. Hesitantly, he resumes the letter.

 

_Anyway, if it did, good! I don’t really know how this stuff works._

_I’m writing to you because there’s a problem in my life that I don’t want you to have to deal with. It has to do with my – well your – best friend._

Now someone was definitely fucking with him. Hide looks up, expression wild.

  
“Okay, whoever’s out there, come out now. I know this is a joke!”

 

_He should be texting you right about now, I remember I was running late on this day._

Hide jumps about six feet into the air when his phone buzzes, not even having enough time to panic because he was supposed to meet Kaneki at Anteiku _ten minutes ago –_

He pulls his phone out. _I ordered for both of us_ is what Kaneki’s text reads. Hide hurriedly taps a reply.

 

_Sorry man, something came up. I’ll be a little late._

 

He shoves his phone back into his pocket, amazed and terrified at what a coincidence that was. He’s curious to read the rest of the letter though, so he continues it.

 

 _He ordered for you right?_ – Hide is horrified - _Guess I got you at a wrong time, but this is important and there’s something you need to know before you get to Anteiku._

_The girl Kaneki’s been talking about recently… Her name is Rize._

_Don’t let him go out with her. I’m serious._

Hide’s hands are shaking and he’s convinced this could still be a joke. He drops the letter and goes to pick up his bike, but when he does, multiple pages spill out of the envelope. He almost just leaves it all there like the litterbug he is, to get blown away or picked up and thrown out by a passerby, but he keeps thinking about how it knew the text…

 

So he neatly puts it all back in the envelope and stuffs it in his pocket.

 

 

 

 

“Kaneki!” Hide bursts through the doors to Anteiku, startling most of the few people who were in the café. “Sorry I’m late.”

 

“It’s fine.” Kaneki didn’t even look up at him; face shoved in a book Hide’s seen him read over and over for years. Hide plops down into the seat across from his friend and studies the cover even though he’s done that so much he could draw an intricate picture of it by now without looking.

 

Kaneki doesn’t ask why he’s late so Hide doesn’t bring it up. He thanks the cute waitress – Touka, when she gives him his coffee, and proceeds to pour around three packets of sugar into it. He scans the café, looking for anything to pique his interest. The television is talking about a recent ghoul attack in the background.

 

“That attack was pretty close to here.” Hide murmurs. “You’d be eaten up in a second, Kaneki, a scrawny kid like you who’s always reading incomprehensible books.” 

 

“What do you mean _incomprehensible_?“ Kaneki puts his book down. “Hide, maybe if you would just pick up a book – “

 

“No use. I’d fall asleep within five seconds.” Hide sighs.

 

He spots something. There’s a girl dressed rather modestly on the other side of the café, with purple hair and glasses with her face no doubt _also_ shoved into Kaneki’s favorite book.

 

“Kaneki,” he whisper-shouts, “that girl over there’s reading _The Black Goats Egg.”_

 

Kaneki whips his head around, only to turn back just as fast with pink cheeks.

 

“Oh?” Hide smirks, “That’s the girl you’ve been talking about?”

 

He remembers the note.

 

 _Her name is_ “Rize.” Kaneki mumbles shyly. “That’s her name.”

 

That’s _her_ , but what was Hide supposed to do?! He was told not to let Kaneki date her, but the letter didn’t say anything on how to go about doing that…

 

“Kaneki, sorry to say this, but... Give it up!”

 

“What?!” Kaneki looks so taken aback Hide almost stops, but he’s already started, so he keeps going.

 

“No matter what you do, a hottie like that is _impossible_.” Hide rolls his eyes.

 

“I – I know that we wouldn’t go well together. But when she looks at me, she smiles a little. Maybe if she shares my feelings…”

 

Kaneki looks depressed and although Hide _hates_ seeing him like that and also hates himself even more since he caused it, the letter said…

 

Hide’s thoughts stop. Would anything _really_ happen if he just let Kaneki go? There was plenty more to the letter, and its not like he actually had to listen to it _in the first place_.

 

“Actually, go for it, dude.” Hide spares a glance at the time and his eyes almost pop out seeing that he’s about to be late for work _too_. “I gotta work, but good luck! Tell me how it goes.”

 

Hide is anxious as he unlocks his bike from the bike rack in the parking lot. He doesn’t want to dwell on the fact that he’s disobeying the him ten years from now that was desperate enough to send a letter through some kind of parallel universe in hopes to fix the future for _this_ Hide. Hide feels a little ridiculous when he thinks to himself; _it can’t be that bad, right_?

 

He listens to crinkle of the envelope in his pocket the entire ride to work.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait wow

For the rest of the day, and most of the following day, Hide doesn’t look at the letter.

 

He doesn’t want anything he reads to spoil this dream that Kaneki could fulfill – although he guesses that’s kind of the whole _point_ as to why his future self wrote to him.

 

He’s meeting Kaneki again, and having left the letter in the security of his home, he’s on time. Kaneki’s at their usual table when he gets there, a drink in front of him and a second drink at the empty seat across from him.

 

Hide slides into it and barely manages to get comfortable before Kaneki says,

 

“I have a date tomorrow!”

 

There are two ways Hide could go with this.

 

Congratulate him, like a good friend, or listen to the letter and destroy his happiness.

 

But did he  _really_ need to listen to that letter? Kaneki's happiness was what was important here. He didn't want to blow this because of something that could possibly just be a prank. However, he needed to figure out how the prankster knew Rize's name.

 

It’s just, Kaneki has _never_ been on a date before. Hide really doesn’t want to ruin this for him. In fact, why should he even get involved in Kaneki's dating life? It wasn't his business and Kaneki would be devastated if he cock-blocked his first date.

  

“Wow, I guess people _do_ get lucky sometimes.” Is all he says.

 

“Yeah, we’re going to recommend each other books! It’s a bookstore date!”

 

Hide feels relief wash over him. Right, this chick was totally a nerd. He had nothing to worry about. Kaneki and Rize could life a happy nerd life together, and who was Hide to get in the way of that?

 

He didn’t read on past yesterday, didn’t read the letter for today. Maybe if he had, he’d know what to do. He’s never seen his friend so openly happy about something before, though, so Hide just wants what’s best for him. 

 

“Bookstore dates aren’t really my thing, but go and have fun!” Hide offers a grin and a thumbs up. Although Kaneki’s happy, he can sense the anxiousness radiating off of him, too. Maybe to be safe, he should skim the letter for today.

 

He’ll read the letter when he gets home.

 

  

He doesn’t read the letter when he gets home.

 

Hide forgot he has a _job_ and his co-worker called in sick, so lucky for him, he worked extra hours that night. After getting home at 9 at night, he rushed a few last minute fixes on a thesis for one of his classes before promptly knocking out.

 

In the morning, he forgets. He’s running late (again) and he needs to get his thesis turned in, so he doesn’t spare it a thought until he’s done with classes for the day. Once he remembers it, it’s already around four, since he had helped with a club after his last class. He curses and rushes to his apartment in a mere 10 minutes. He's free from work today, so there's nothing to distract him now. 

The envelope is still in the pants he was wearing two days ago, so he digs around the clothes on his floor to find them. Once he does, he pulls out the envelope and smoothens out the crinkles. He hesitates slightly on opening it, doing a quick investigation around his room in case anyone was watching him fall into their (what this could still possibly be) prank.

 

_So did you listen to me?_

_If you did, congradulations! You literally won’t need this letter anymore. You can throw it out now._

Hide raises an eyebrow. There has to be at least ten pages to this letter and he wouldn’t need _any_ of it if he kept Kaneki from going on that date? 

 

_However, just because I know I wouldn't know what to do in this kind of situation, there’s a chance you didn’t listen._

_Kaneki must be on his date right now, and since you didn’t listen, things aren’t going to be pretty from here on out._

_Rize is a ghoul, and she’s going to try and kill him._

 

 

Touka looks very pretty today.

 

Hide stares at her for a couple seconds, examining her lightened hair – did she tone it? It looks nice.-, her exhausted complexion smoothed over by makeup. She has a stain on her blouse, and she seems to have read his mind and noticed, making a disgruntled noise. His eyes flick down to his coffee, the steam drifting up into his face but he didn’t really care.

 

“You know why I’m here, right?”

 

Touka presses her lips together, still uselessly scrubbing at the stain and Hide thinks she didn’t hear him until she suddenly looks right at him.

 

“Of course. It’s Kaneki’s birthday.” She sighs.

 

His 29th birthday, to be exact. Hide turned 29 a couple months ago, while Touka turned 28. The only thing worth mentioning that’s occurred over the years is that the gap between ghouls and humans has been filled. The CCG figured out a way to supply ghouls with food about five years ago, and ghouls are generally respected and treated like a human unless they do something to violate the system that has been worked out.

 

Hide had been madly in love with a girl he graduated with from Kamii. He couldn’t imagine his life without her being in it at the time she was, and she might have quite possibly been the greatest thing to ever happen to him. He proposed to her two years ago and were due to get married in April of last year. However, last January a ghoul killed her, and Hide quit his job at the CCG to figure out his life once again after that. Fortunately, the ghoul was killed. Now, he runs a counseling center for ghoul attack victims.

 

Anteiku was never rebuilt after the raid, but Touka dedicated herself to :Re, and it became a pretty popular tourist attraction in Tokyo. You couldn’t go anywhere without hearing foreigners converse amongst each other - _Have you tried :Re café? Seriously the best coffee I’ve ever had!_

“Hmm, what should we do for him today, Touka?” Hide leans back into his chair. Touka tucks a piece of hair behind her ear before looking out the front window of :Re and into the busy streets of their ward. Good thing she was always closed on December 20th. So was Hide.

 

“I visited him earlier. I’m sure you did too… but I didn’t leave anything. How about we see if Tsukiyama has any flower arrangements ready?”

 

Hide nods. He hasn’t seen Tsukiyama in a few weeks. He usually flies out of country to get good arrangements especially for this day. If they don’t get to his shop in time, Kaneki’s grave will be covered in hundreds of flowers.

 

“Hey, I wanna ask you something.”

 

“Go for it.”

 

“Do you think our letters got through?” Hide tries not to sound exasperated. It’s been weeks since they flew them out. And Hide wasn’t expecting a reply or anything, but.

 

Touka rolls her eyes, “Even if they did, it wouldn’t change anything here.”

 

“Yeah,” Hide scratches the side of his head, “But I would like for Kaneki to be with us on his 29th birthday somewhere _else_ , if it can’t be here.”

 

“I guess all we can do is hope.” Touka murmurs, before reaching across the table to flick Hide’s wrist, “Now drink your coffee, it’s probably cold now.”


End file.
